by Adam Dark
How my heart was still beating was a miracle in its own right. It would have been a blessing had my heart stopped beating and I died on the driveway. At least I wouldn't have to suffer the impending doom that awaited me.
The wind seemed to stop when I breeched the threshold from the drive to the front yard. The house was even darker than before even though the moon shown ever brighter in the night sky. It was well past my curfew. My mom was going to kill me!
I wasn't so sure which I would prefer. The unknown monster inside the abandoned house in front of me or the known one back home. I'd pick neither if that were an option. I felt exposed and alone. The hairs on the back of my neck were in constant shock and my skin itched. I could feel eyes staring at me from all around.
I knew this was just the fear taking root, but it was working. There was such a thing as fight or flight when someone came face-to-face with danger or an alarming situation. The knee jerk reaction for most people was to flee or to fight. But there was also a third option, freeze.
That's where I was now. My body refused to move further. I was stuck in the middle of the front yard, the mansion fifty paces away, the road leading away from danger and back to safety half a mile in the opposite direction. There was no quick escape even if I could move. Whatever came next would be my fate.
It was the first time that I noticed the 1967 Oldsmobile parked off to the side near a barn. How did I know this? I blame all the doctor visits I had to go to with my mom when she was pregnant with my baby sister. I became much acquainted with the car magazines in the waiting room.
The grass wasn't growing around its tires and through its hood which meant someone had used it recently. I made my way over to it while keeping my ears alert for any noise, my eyes ready for any sudden movement coming from the house.
I touched my hand on the hood like Sherlock Holmes might have. It was cold. I wasn't sure if I was relieved or depressed. Cold meant it had been sitting there for a while. Had it been warm, well, then we had a bigger problem on our hands.
I circled the vehicle and peered through its windows. The lime green leather was in mint condition other than the leaves and trash that had gathered on the back seat and along the floorboards. The rear windshield had been broken. Glass was still littered along the car and inside the back seat.
Many animals had made the inside their home from time to time. It didn't look as though any were living there currently. Suddenly, there came a slam behind me. I jerked upright and spun around. My heart resumed beating three seconds later. The barn door flipped outward and slammed against the side as the wind picked up.
I relaxed and chided myself for being so on edge. There was nothing to be afraid of. Nico was probably just messing around to scare all of us. I hoped.
The barn door continued to flap in the wind. I left the Oldsmobile behind to investigate the barn. It was more a shed or a chicken coop than a full-blown barn meant for raising livestock. I stood by the entrance until my vision adjusted to the darkness inside.
My senses told me to abandon my curiosities and leave Nico to his own fate, but something in the barn caught my eye. It shimmered in the darkness. I crept closer. The barn was in fact some kind of storage unit. The shelves were mostly bare of any useful equipment but there were still a few handy yard tools.
The shiny thing buried beneath the dirt and straw was an old shovel. I was surprised not to find its metal rusted. The wooden handle was worse for wear, but it was still intact. I yanked it free of the ground and shook the dirt off.
I flipped it over in my hands and held it at the ready. At least now I had a weapon. The brittle wood handle dug into my hands like coarse rope. My skin was raw from swinging all day from the tree fort and the water had softened my skin. If there was one way to turn into a toad, it was to sit in water long that your skin turned to mush.
I gripped the shovel with both hands. I scanned the interior of the shed a little while longer before exiting back the way I had come. There was nothing of note in the shed. My heart rate had returned to normal and I was beginning to acclimate to my surroundings.
The uneasy feeling as though I was being watched and followed never left me. It was like an itch that never went away, or a tingling sensation in the back of your throat you could never wash down. I ignored it as best I could. If something were following or watching me, I didn't want to alert it to my knowledge or startle it.
I circled back around to the Oldsmobile and to the main clearing in front of the house. I took note of the mansion's perimeter and outcroppings. I had never really looked at the giant building. It was even bigger than the rumors said. The old orphanage must have housed scores of kids by the size of it. It had a wraparound porch that jutted ten feet out from the house on all sides.
Wood beams stapled the porch to the ground. There were three stories. The balcony and window where I had seen the movement was the highest point of the house. From my sideways vantage point, I could see that it was a loft of sorts, somewhat detached from the main hub of the home. There were no windows along the second floor from the front that I could see.
Three chimney chutes protruded from the roof like castle towers. A giant oak clung to the side of the house and blanketed nearly half of the roof. A chill swept over me as the wind picked up. The moon was shining bright overhead and stars began to sprinkle into fruition. Their tiny flickers aided my quest in the dark.
The danger didn't come from knowing it was dangerous, it was when you relaxed and weren't expecting it. I contemplated walking up to the front porch and knocking on the door but thought better of it. If someone were inside, they'd be waiting for me there. They were probably watching me now, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.
I instead made the unconscious and dumb decision to venture to the backyard. I say this was unconscious because I didn't actively think of journeying deeper into the danger zone, and dumb, well, because it was dumb. The backyard was much like the front. There was a second shed tucked into the far corner. A large, black spot sullied a patch of the yard where a fire pit had once burned. I spun the shovel in the ash.
Leaves had fallen from the trees and blanketed much of the burnt soil. The shovel hit something solid. I flipped it over and dropped it. It was a bone. There were more of them in the burn pit. I grabbed the shovel and spun to leave. The movement on the back porch was unquestionable. I ran for the side of the house. The shadow followed. I spun around, bringing the shovel to bear, and flung it around for a killing strike.
The shovel's blade whizzed through empty air and cracked into the side of the house. There was nothing there. The darkness was playing tricks on me. I was not one prone to anger, but I was sick of being terrified.
"Nico!" I shouted.
I shuffled to the front yard and shouted his name again.
"Whoever you are, let my friend go!"
I was defiant in my fear and fully expected to see a shadowy figure crawl out of the third-floor balcony window, slither down the side of the house, and rush along the yard toward me. No such demonic creature ever appeared. The abandoned orphanage remained as silent as ever. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder.
My heart plummeted and my hands dropped the shovel with a clang. My skin burned with terror and my heart was pounding in my ears. Every neuron in my body was on high alert. Why wasn't I running? I was frozen again.
I slowly turned around. Nothing. The uneasiness didn't go away. It only increased in magnitude. I was not alone. I saw the reeds twenty paces away move as something passed through.
"Show yourself!" I shouted into the tall grass.
The grass shifted. Something was definitely rummaging around in it. My back was to the house and my full attention was on the tall grass that surrounded the yard like a natural fortified fence. My eyes darted to the side following the movement.
"I'm not afraid of you!" I yelled.
This was more for myself than whatever was in the grass. I was beyond terrified. If there was something above being
frozen in place by fear, then I was there. It locked every muscle of my body in a stagnant draw. If something were to come bursting forth from the grass, I'd die standing up.
But nothing came lunging out from the grass. It came from behind.
"Boo!"
Hands grabbed my shoulders and shook me violently. I screamed and died inside, but my heart was still beating and my eyes were still open. Nico circled around laughing.
"You should have seen your face," he said.
The feeling hadn't returned to my body yet and I was still in shock.
"Where are the others?" he asked, looking around for the other boys.
Feeling returned to my right hand first and I sent a cupped fist toward his face. I missed but not for lack of trying. The momentum slung me on the ground.
"Whoa! Watch it," he said.
I crawled to my feet.
"I'm going to kill you!" I growled.
He laughed even harder.
"What were you doing rummaging around the yard anyway?" he asked.
"I was looking for you, you bloody idiot! We thought you were eaten!"
"Eaten? You're joking."
My jaw clenched and I brushed the dirt off of my pants. All fear had left my body and was morphed into rage.
"Where were you? We saw you get pulled into the house. We thought something happened to you," I said.
"The house is empty like I've told you a million times. There's nothing here," he said.
"Then how did you get pulled in?"
"The door was cracked open when I got to the porch. When I looked through the window I saw that it was vacant. I decided to play a trick on all of you. It seems to have worked," Nico said.
"You're sick!" I said and headed for the driveway.
He ran to catch up to me.
"Oh, come on, Ben. Don't be like that! You have to admit, it was a pretty good prank," he said.
It was, but I didn't want to validate his inconsiderate genius for scaring the poop out of me. I had never been more scared in my entire life.
He chuckled and fell in step behind me.
"Where are the others?"
"They're waiting at the base of the hill," I said.
"You're the only one who came back?" he asked.
His lips curled up.
"I'm impressed. I would have thought Ian would have been the brave one to come looking for me."
"Sorry to disappoint. Don't think I'll be coming after you ever again," I said.
He patted me on the back.
"I knew I liked you," he said.
We walked the rest of the way in silence. I never saw the movement in the third-floor window or the shadow that dashed through the tall grass behind us.
5
Max was the only one still sitting at the base of the hill when Nico and I got there.
"Where are the others?" I asked.
"They left me," Max whimpered.
He hadn't stayed out of loyalty, but out of fear. Like me, he had frozen and couldn't move.
To his credit, he hadn't wet his pants as I had. I couldn't wait to get home and change before anyone noticed the wet splotch on the back of my shorts.
Max's eyes fell on Nico. The small boy lunged at Nico and wrapped his arms around him. Nico patted him on the back.
"I'm fine. It was just a fun prank is all," Nico said.
Max looked to me.
"It was all make believe. Nico was trying to scare us. There's nothing up there. Let's go home," I said.
I picked up my bike and pedaled away. Nico and I dropped Max off at his place first before heading to my house. It was well past my curfew by the time we rolled up to my driveway. The downstairs lights were all on. Not a good sign.
My father's car wasn't in the driveway, but this wasn't a surprise.
"Are you sure you want me to come in?" Nico asked.
He was already getting cold feet. He knew my mother and the fear he had for her, as did I, was well warranted.
"She'll be less angry if you come in with me. You can say Max twisted his ankle and we had to walk him home. You came with me to make sure I got home safely and to stay the night," I said.
"Sounds like a plan. Do you think she'll buy it?" Nico asked.
"I hope. If not, I'll wish I had died up on that hill," I said.
We left our bikes in the front yard and jogged up the steps. My hand hadn't even reached the door knob when the door swung inward.
"Where have you been? Do you have any idea what time it is, young man?" my mother asked.
She grabbed me by the ear and pulled me in.
"Hi, Nico," she added.
My friend reluctantly followed. He owed me as much for putting me in this predicament. My mother released me when we got to the living room. She spun around and folded her arms across her chest.
"Where were you?" she asked.
"We walked Max home. He sprained his..."
"Peter's mom called. She said her son said you guys were up there by the orphanage. Something about Nico was taken and you went after him," my mother said.
My head slouched forward. Nico remained silent by the front door. I could feel her eyes burning holes in my head.
"Well...were you?" she asked.
There was no point in lying. If Peter's mother had called, then that meant Peter had spilled the beans of what had transpired and by now all of the mothers were in the same phone loop. For all I knew they were all in their cars right now on their way over to hash this out as a group lashing.
To my dismay, it was only Nico and me. The other boys were probably hearing similar rants. We'd all be grounded for the rest of the summer. I couldn't let that happen. I needed to salvage what little dignity and hope I had left of freedom.
"We just swung by for a brief moment," I said.
"Brief? It's way after your curfew. What were you doing out there? You know it's not safe up there. Something could have happened to you and no one would have known," she said.
"I'm sorry," I said. It was the only thing I could say—and the smartest. It probably saved me from being locked in my room for the rest of the summer on dish duty.
My mother did something I was not expecting. She hugged me. Nico stood by the door awkwardly.
"I guess I should go..." he said.
"Don't even think about it, young man," my mother said. "Get over here."
Nico inched his way over like a beaten opponent, his head bowed like mine to the floor. My mother yanked him by the arm into a deep embrace and held us both.
"I love you boys. I don't know what we would have done if anything had happened to you. You need to be safe. There are lots of bad people in the world. You could have gotten hurt," she said.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Robinson. It's my fault. I made Ben go with me," Nico said.
"There's no fault. You boys need to look out for each other," she said.
"Yes, ma'am," we both said in unison.
She gave us both a firm squeeze and kiss on the head. She smoothed out her apron around her waist and combed her hair back with her hands.
She let out a sigh to gather her thoughts.
"Who's hungry?" she asked.
Nico couldn't suppress the grin any longer.
"Starved!" he said.
"Well, let's get you boys something to eat, then off to bed. We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow," she said.
I had no idea what we were doing tomorrow, but my mind was on one thing and one thing only. My mother opened the oven and a wave of hunger rushed up my nostrils and down to the pit of my stomach. My stomach growled.
"Ooh! Was that you, Ben?" my mother asked.
I rubbed my stomach.
"I guess I'm hungry," I said.
She smiled.
She whisked the tater tot casserole from the oven and removed the tin foil that had been protecting it and keeping it warm. There was a piece missing where my sister had no doubt already eaten. My mother retrieved three plates from the cabinet. She scooped two large c
hunks of deliciousness and dumped them on each of our plates. She placed a smaller portion on the third.
She handed us our plates and picked up the third one for herself. Nico and I dug into the hot food before we made it to the table.
"Would you like some ketchup?" my mother asked.
"Yes, please," we said through a mouthful of food.
She brought the ketchup bottle over. Nico squeezed a giant puddle over his plate. I did the same. My mother opted for a gentle squirt on her own plate.
"You didn't eat?" I asked.
She took a bite and chewed methodically.
"I was worried about you," she said.
"I'm sorry, mom," I said.
"Yeah, me too. We won't do it again," Nico said.
I'm sure he meant it, but he was one to forget his promises an hour later. But for now, all was good. We were home, safe, and stuffing our faces full of yummy food. I had much to be thankful for considering how the night could have turned out.
Nico and I went for seconds, he a third, before we rinsed our plates in the sink, filled them with soapy water, and went upstairs for a shower. Nico headed up while my mother grabbed my hand as I was walking up.
Her face was soft and her eyes were moist.
"I love you, Ben. I have these rules to protect you and keep you safe. I don't know what I would do if anything ever happened to you," she said.
I came down the stairs and embraced her. I placed my face against the nook of her chest.
"I love you too," I said
She wiped a tear from her eye as I ascended the stairs. Nico was sitting on the side of my bed when I got upstairs.
"That was close," he said when I closed my bedroom door.
"Too close," I said.
"Do you think she knows?" he asked.
I nodded.
He laid back and stretched out.
"I'm glad she didn't ground you. That would have put a real damper on our summer plans," he said.
I joined him on the bed. A wave of exhaustion hit me like a ton of bricks. No shower was happening tonight.
